This invention relates to an apparatus and method for manufacturing and using a protective cup that provides shielding for the crotch area of male users.
Males are often involved in activities that include heavy body contact or in other activities where there is a strong likelihood that certain areas of the male body will be subjected to heavy physical blows. As a result of the male anatomy, the pelvic area of a human male can be very susceptible to damage or injury from such heavy blows and fast-traveling projectiles. More specifically, the male genitals are located in the male pelvic area and, due to their essentially exposed and unprotected arrangement, can be damaged by even medium levels of contact with moving objects.
In the case of athletics, this can present a substantial problem for the male athlete. Because blows to the male genitals in the male pelvic area often occur, and because such blows can result in sometime incapacitating pain, various devices have been conceived that can be used to protect the male pelvic area from such injuries.
The most common from of protection is a concave device that can be worn by the male participant that generally covers the male genital area just below the abdomen and between the legs of the male. Such devices have become generically known as “athletic cups” and are extremely common in such sports as football, baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey, and any other sport that might cause the male genital area to receive heavy contact.
The vast majority of those athletic cups are made from some type of plastic material such as polypropylene or polyethylene. In such prior art athletic cups, the edges of the plastic material from which the primary structure for the athletic cup is made are often rimmed around the peripheral with a resilient material such as foam rubber. However, the normal prior art athletic cup has no super resilient material within the internal portion of the athletic cup to provide additional cushioning and protection for the male genitalia being stored within the protective cup.
Additionally, while past designs of athletic cups may be rigid enough to protect from certain blows to the male genital area, the standard athletic cup is not designed or made from a material that can protect against extremely severe blows that can be found in instances other than in general athletic competition. For example, law enforcement officers often find themselves in circumstances where belligerent offenders of the law have no qualm about attacking the law officer by kicking the law officer's genital area, or by striking the law officer's genital area with heavy blunt instruments and even sharp objects. The effects of such tactics can quickly result in the incapacitation of the law officer that could result in the escape of the offender and, in the most sever cases, even serious injury or death of the law officer.
Military personnel and others in the armed services often find themselves in situations similar to that of the law officers as described above. However, military personnel may become involved in combat that can also include attacks by small arms fire and by explosives that direct damaging, fast-moving shrapnel in the direction of the military personnel. If bullets and shrapnel contact the male genital area, the military personnel can be quickly disabled when the projectile strikes the genital area of the male military personnel.
As a result, the athlete, law officer, or military personnel in each of the above scenarios can readily benefit from a protective cup made from high level ballistic material than can offer added protection against blows from heavy objects, small arms fire, and shrapnel.